A method is disclosed to determine an optimal power level to encode information holographically. The method sets (N) evaluation power levels, displays an evaluation image on a spatial light modulator. For each value of (i), the method energizes a light source using the (i)th power level, generates the (i)th reference beam, generates the (i)th carrier beam, forms the (i)th data beam comprising the evaluation image, forms the (i)th hologram using the (i)th reference beam and the (i)th data beam, and encodes the (i)th hologram in a holographic data storage medium, where (i) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N).